Three spaces across the country—Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune—that underwent upgrades to become art havens

Three spaces, three cities – each one started off serving a particular function, but underwent a revamp to make them a space for the art forms. Take a look at how a sky-bridge in Bengaluru is now an art café, how a bungalow in Versova, Mumbai is now a gastropub with theatre performances and open mike night; and how an art deco hotel in Pune provides seamless spaces for artists to work and exhibit their creations.

1. Bengaluru | An Art Café in a Skybridge

What was once a sky-bridge that connected Sheraton Grand Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway in Malleshwaram, Bengaluru to the World Trade Center got a complete makeover to reopen as the Art Café in December 2017. Accessible from the fourth floor of the hotel, overlooking landscaped greens and a lakeside, this is a space that brings together art and an innovative contemporary menu.

Unconventional Art Cafe

When planning for the space was underway, Nirupa Shankar, Executive Director, Brigade Enterprises Ltd, felt that it was essential to see what the space would be good for. “With a large square space there is a lot that you can do, but with a thin long strip, like we had, which was about 150 feet long and 10-12 feet wide, our scope was narrowed,” Shankar says. “We alternated between a museum and an art gallery/cafe. In a museum the artefacts are fixed whereas art is more dynamic. The Art Café, then seemed to be a natural way forward,” she adds. Art galleries are typically quiet spaces with low footfalls. The Art Café wants to turn this notion around by creating a high energy space where one can sip on a glass of bubbly or catch up with friends over a cup of coffee while snacking on a quiche and listening to hip-hop; all while enjoying high quality art in a space where one can relax and let loose.

Elaborating on the transformation, Rachna Lanewala of Bentel Associates International, Mumbai says that as the bridge was designed for a certain load, we restricted ourselves to using materials that are lightweight. The furniture created is also lightweight and movable to allow for ease of circulation. The ceiling feature is in gypsum, in a parametric design, which hangs down and forms the background for the art display. The overall look is white with a warm tone of wooden vinyl flooring with the furniture being transparent providing a perfect background for the art to be displayed. The environment is temperature-controlled with simple split AC units and low emission glass has been installed to prevent sun rays from affecting the art work. Track lights have been installed across the length of the display area to place focus on the art work.

The sky-bridge that connects the Sheraton Grand Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway in Malleshwaram, Bangalore, to the World Trade Center, is now home to an Art Cafe

You can now catch up with friends over a cup of coffee while admiring the high quality art pieces in the space

The interiors of the skywalk have been revamped to house artworks and a small cafe

The Skywalk

2. Mumbai | From a House to The House

Aram Nagar in Versova, Mumbai has some lovely bungalows. And if you have them overlooking the sea, then you are in for an absolute treat amidst the organized chaos that is Mumbai. Pritam Vaid moved into his ground plus one floor bungalow here in 2013 and thanks to his friends circle the space became a jam room right from the get-go. But Pritam, coming from a hospitality background wanted to convert it into a pub and the work for it in terms of licensing took close to two years. In that time, his house saw a casual and gradual transformation to become The House.

An Anchor for the Creative Crowd

“The house has a carpet area of 2300square feet and as a home had the verandah, drawing room, bedroom and terrace. Today we have a ground floor open area, a lounge area created from the drawing room, a fine dining space in what was once the bedroom and a terrace which has a sea view,” explains Vaid. “All of the remodelling was done gradually, and with suggestions coming in from friends such as Prashanthi Ajile, who used to live opposite us then and who is a designer. She envisioned the space needing to cope with a floating crowd and suggested an external staircase for access to the terrace and many other small changes”.

Creative + Co-Working Space

The home kitchen had to be dismantled and a commercial kitchen installed, which Pritam did taking the help of local suppliers to large hotels. He also brought in a fabricator to work out of The House to create furniture as they saw fit. There are dedicated evenings to open mics, Karaoke, comedy nights, and jam sessions. During the day, a number of creative folks use The House as a co-working space for workshops and productions in music and theatre that result out of it. There are also dance nights, sundowners and more that take place on a regular basis.

The House regularly hosts evenings dedicated to open mikes, karaoke, comedy nights and jam sessions.

The graffiti on the walls was created by young students who needed a creative canvas

The interiors of The House

The restaurant at night

The bar area at The House

3. Pune | An Art Deco Hotel That is Home to The Arts

The building in which TIFA Working Studios, Pune today operates out of, was once an art deco styled hotel that dates back to the 1940s. Ownership passed through the hands of two Parsi gentlemen over time and the name went from Hotel Wellesley to Hotel Shalimar, perhaps with the end of the Raj. Being one of only three quality hotels in the area back in the day, this place retained its prominence long after it stopped hosting guests. Bought by the family of Trishla Talera, the Director of TIFA, in the 1990s, it functioned as an office space between 2001-2005, till the building went into disrepair and served as a storage area. “In late 2012 when we decided to start TIFA we looked at this building with renewed eyes and realized how much of quirkiness is there to the entire structure,” says Trishla.

Photo Courtesy: Nishant Shukla

Work Hard, Play Hard

They began renovation work with the ground floor, slowing moving to the first. “The hotel initially had 20 rooms, most of which are interconnected. This was in a bid to ensure that large families travelling together had seamless rooms. Today, taking advantage of this connectivity, we have converted the space to have 14 individual studios with varying layouts and lighting, giving an artist ample choice of space. There is also a large exhibition space and a dedicated workshop space with access to a wet area. For artists wishing to stay on and work, TIFA Pune also offers accommodation on single and double basis.”

Looking Through History

Trishla has ensured that as much of the original structure and elements have been retained. Beginning with the tiles on every floor, some of which have a Chettinad influence. Every floor has a different pattern of tiles laid and thus every floor has a different feel. In fact, there are some unique half-tiled patterns that have been used that are retained as is. Where it was needed, the team took the trouble to source as close to the original tile to fix patches. The typical curves to rooms that are characteristic of the art deco style have been retained to provide unique artistic spaces. Some of the bathrooms even have the old ceramic bathtubs that have stood the test of time.

Random Connections

What is unique about each of the artist spaces is that work done on the walls is not taken down unless it is absolutely required by the next artist who comes in. This, in a way, has artists talking to each other through their work on the walls, Trishla believes. Some unique elements, like a now decommissioned lift shaft, provides a lovely look down the length of the building, bringing in some natural light too. Or the randomly placed bridge that connects two parts of the same floor, all retain the structures original quirkiness while being a space for artists that Pune loves.